This section provides background information, which is not necessarily prior art, related to the present disclosure. Instrument clusters on automobiles generally include numerous gauges for displaying operation information such as vehicle speed, engine RPM, engine coolant temperature, fuel tank level and many other types of information. The gauges may include analog or digital displays for displaying the information depending on the gauge manufacturer and styling preferences. An analog gauge typically includes a faceplate having indicia, such as numerals, and graduations demarking such indicia, and a pointer for rotating to the appropriate indicia and numeral combination.
One important design consideration for an instrument cluster and related gauges is the ability of a vehicle operator to quickly and easily view and read the gauges in all driving environments. Typically an instrument cluster gauge is illuminated by a light source such as a light bulb or light emitting diode (LED), for example.